JCC to close its Park Avenue doors

Keila Torres Ocasio

Updated 12:01 am, Saturday, June 29, 2013

BRIDGEPORT -- Moving forward with plans to merge with the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, the Jewish Community Center will close the doors of its Park Avenue facility to members for good Sunday.

The children's day camp, day care programs and administrative office staff will be the only remaining occupants of the building. And while the children's programs will end on Aug. 16, the office staff will remain in the building through the fall.

"The exact date for preparation of the property for construction of the new facility, including the removing of the current building, has not yet been set, but is anticipated to begin in the late fall," Steven Wendell, JCC's director, replied in an email.

Last year, JHE and JCC began the approval process for a project to merge the two organizations in one 350,000-square-foot building at 4200 Park Ave. The five-story, 300-unit skilled nursing and assisted living facility would contain meeting rooms, a pool and a fitness area.

The JHE now has 360 beds at its 175 Jefferson St. property in Fairfield. The proposed building on Park Avenue would include 280 skilled nursing beds and 40 assisted-living units.

The Bridgeport City Council will hold a public hearing Monday at 7 p.m. to discuss the city's plan to issue up to $72 million in tax-exempt bonds to help pay for the project.

In exchange for the bond issuance, the JHE would provide the city payments in lieu of taxes. The payments would start at $25,000 in the first year and gradually increase in subsequent years.

The JCC was known as the Young Men's Hebrew Association until 1939, when the center moved into a facility on State Street in downtown Bridgeport. It has occupied the current space since 1963.